TORONTO: Researchers at digital watchdog group Citizen Lab found spyware they linked to Israeli firm NSO that exploited a newly discovered flaw in Apple devices.
Citizen Lab made this revelation while examining an Apple device owned by an employee of a civil society group based in Washington.
According to their statement, they determined that the flaw had been utilized to infiltrate the device with NSO’s Pegasus spyware.
John Scott-Railton, a senior researcher at Citizen Lab located at the University of Toronto’s Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy, emphasized the significance of civil society acting as an early warning system for highly advanced cyberattacks.
However, Citizen Lab refrained from providing additional information about the affected individual or the organization involved.
This particular vulnerability allowed for the compromise of iPhones running the latest iOS version (16.6) without requiring any action from the device owner, as reported by the digital watchdog.
Subsequently, Apple responded by releasing new updates for its devices after investigating the flaws identified by Citizen Lab. An Apple spokesperson declined to provide further comments, while Citizen Lab encouraged consumers to promptly update their devices.
NSO, on the other hand, did not offer an immediate response to Citizen Lab’s research. It is worth noting that this Israeli company has been subject to U.S. government sanctions since 2021 due to allegations of misconduct, which include the surveillance of government officials and journalists.
